In August, an experienced outdoorsman in his mid-60s named Douglas traveled by four-wheeler to the Savage River area where it intersects the Stampede Trail to search for signs of a missing person, Mary Wilson. Arriving near twilight under dense forest canopy, he heard loud, abnormal yelling sounds and witnessed a large silhouette cross the trail. Douglas set up a light camp on the ground without a tent, falling asleep armed with a high-powered .375 H&H Magnum rifle despite hearing strange, high-pitched vocalizations resembling deep-toned children laughing coming from less than 100 yards away near the river.
Before dawn, Douglas tracked the sounds along a wide trail through tall, three-foot grass near the riverbar. Spotting dark movement near a teardrop-shaped gravel island 200 yards out, he attempted to backtrack for his camera, but was struck in the body by a small thrown object. Douglas decided to aggressively provoke the entity by zigzagging, crouching, and shouting. The creature retaliated by hurling a massive clump of dirt and grass that violently struck Douglas's leg. After executing a crescent-shaped stalking maneuver to improve his open-sight visibility, Douglas experienced a sudden sensation of intense danger, prompting him to fire an initial warning shot into the grass. Suddenly, an immense creature—estimated at over 10 feet tall—rose up out of the riverbank less than 50 feet away. Douglas immediately fired a direct shot at the target, causing it to drop onto all fours, splash through the river, and retreat to the opposite bank where it stood swaying and vocalizing before vanishing into the trees at extreme speed.
Upon returning to his campsite, Douglas discovered his camp completely ransacked; his gear was thrown about, and one of his four-wheeler's front tires had been completely ripped off. Returning the following day with a winched vehicle and a skeptical friend to recover his gear, they discovered that the massive creature had dragged the heavy four-wheeler completely into the river channel. The traumatic event ultimately compelled Douglas to sell out and permanently move out of Alaska to the Lower 48.
